Monday, 21 April 2014

Guest Post ~ Julie Shackman.

Today I'm pleased to welcome the lovely Julie Shackman to my blog! Julie released her debut Contemporary Romance novel in February and you can check out Rock My World at the end of this post.

Never Give Up! By Julie Shackman

As well as being an enthusiastic reader and having a passion for writing, there’s one other attribute that 99.9% of writers need to have in abundance – persistence!

I once read that “Published writers are unpublished writers who never gave up” and never a truer word was said.

Rejection is part and parcel of the writing process, as everyone will tell you. But that doesn’t make it any easier. It can be upsetting and depressing. Yet the fact that at some time or another, all writers have experienced the dreaded “rejection slip” or “rejection e-mail” should spur you on in your quest for publication.

I remember feeling deflated during the submission process. A few times, I even considered quitting writing altogether.

But my amazing Mum always taught me nothing worthwhile ever comes easily – and that there is no such word as “can’t”. So after tears and the inevitable rant about the injustice of it all, I dusted off my notebook and carried on.

I’m so pleased I did.

In late November 2013, London digital publishers Not So Noble Books asked to read my full MS after I submitted the first three chapters and synopsis of my debut contemp romance novel “Rock My World.”

Three weeks later, they offered me a digital publishing contract.

So please don’t give up. Read lots. I find it is a great way to refocus and re-connect with my writing – and hopefully improve it.

It’s an extremely enjoyable way too, of seeing how other authors have developed their craft . Write whenever you can, take on board feedback and keep submitting no matter what.

After all, it only takes one person to believe in you and your writing and say that precious word – YES!

Julie Shackman
March 2014.

Author Bio:

I trained as a journalist but writing romance has always been a dream of mine. When I’ve not got my head in a book or drafting one, I write verses and captions for greetings card companies

. Writing at home seems to be incredibly difficult for me – I usually require coffee, music and noise.
“Rock My World” is my first contemporary romance novel . I have just finished writing my second novel and am polishing that at the moment whilst beginning to do some research for my third. These are also contemporary romances with a good dose of humour (hopefully!). I’m married, have two sons and live in Scotland.

Ruby Cameron is an ambitious reporter for a local paper where she is fed scraps of news, and lives with a man whose “idea of living dangerously is to leave the heating on when we pop out to the shops”. But after catching her squeaky clean boyfriend in flagrante delicto she ups sticks and moves into her own small home, only to discover the ghostly presence of a cheeky rock star who becomes her confidant as the dynamics of her small town, and her feelings about her dashing new boss, begin to throw up more questions than she can answer. Will Ruby discover who she really is, and perhaps more importantly, who she wants to be?